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and saw what was clearly a very distinctive spider that I knew I would not have much difficultly finding in an ID guide. I picked it up to have a look under the lens. Ouch. It's not at all human-lethal, but it was as sudden and painful as a wasp sting

in Britain. Although there are about 250 species of hoverfly in the UK, and roughly 100 of them are black and yellow wasp mimics, this one is immediately recognizable by its narrow parallel-sided body shape and the fact that some abdominal segments have two

mainly flies), but in the past I've seen wasps and tortoiseshell butterflies eagerly making the most of this final feed of nectar before hibernating.Fatsia japonica is an exotic looking evergreen shrub with large glossy, lobed leaves. Despite its tropical

with horticultural soft soap. After the initial spray, with the night temperatures warming up, we'll start our programme of integrated pest management. For aphid control we introduce parasitic wasps, hoverflies and ladybirds - the larvae (especially of the latter two

not to worry. Unlike honeybees and wasps, bumblebees are very docile and not prone to attack even if you stand right in front of the nest entrance. Having said that, four-year-old picked up what he thought was a dead one on the path nearby and it promptly stung

hoverfly). Both of these are supposed to resemble the common wasp to deter predators, and are completely harmless. They lay their eggs on plants and their larvae eat aphids.Having abandoned hopes of growing the world's tallest sunflower, I'm now content

the leaves are dwarfed. However, the marble galls, the smooth round growths caused by tiny gall 'wasps' Andricus kollari, are exactly the same size as usual, no matter that the trees are only one metre rather than 30 metres high. Against the backdrop

, then this is the creature. But, sadly, it is just 'one of the ichneumons', which is quite frankly pathetic. Ichneumons are large and striking insects, allied to bees, wasps and ants. (Ichneumon is also another name for the Egyptian mongoose but we don't get those in East

in case I was dangerous, or sizing me up as potential prey.They have slightly more interesting garden 'pests' in Florida. This paper wasp nest was tucked out of the way against the eves, and anyway it was very small.And one day I turned over a few small

problem: the hazel (unlike many plants) cannot fertilise itself, so needs to find another tree. How to disseminate pollen from one tree to another? Many plants use insects — bees, wasps, moths, butterflies or ants — while others draw on the services